Samba De Amigo has issues but it is a diverting title and far, far cheaper than Guitar Hero or Rock Band
However thanks to the Nintendo Wii, obtaining the game is far less of an issue as Gearbox re-introduces gamers to Samba De Amigo. Featuring all of the previous songs and modes of play, Samba De Amigo on Nintendo Wii offers a far cheaper solution to enjoying one of Sega's most sought after games and is highly entertaining at it.
The songs are set out in difficulty ranging from easy to very hard. You unlock songs by playing and completing them in the Career mode and there are over 40 to complete, more of which you can download online for a sum of money. Besides career mode there is also the original quick play and classic modes of old Samba De Amigo, Love Love – which is a team based version of the game and Battle Mode – in which you play against a friend or computer to see who the best is. You can also play Survival mode where you have to complete as many songs as possible without missing a number of notes. There are also playable mini games too.
In Mini game mode you can play such games as Guacamole, which plays like whack-a-mole but with the Samba controls instead. Another mini game worth playing is Piñata where you have to keep hitting a piñata before it opens up and there is also a volley ball game which you play against a friend or computer to see who the first to get 15 points is.
The controls work in that they are mapped to either two Wiimote or a nunchuck and wiimote combo performing as the left and right maraca. You point where you want either of the maracas and shake them when the note reaches any of the six spots on the screen. The aim is to meet all of these targets and get the highest score possible in order to obtain a successful grade. Failure to meet the notes in time will cause you to lose the game.
Sadly though, these controls don't perform as perfectly and are a little irresponsive. This is something to forgive on the easy and medium level songs as it is still possible to meet each note without too much fuss. But on the harder levels it makes the game almost unplayable as Samba De Amigo unforgivingly throws notes in all directions and the controllers just can't keep up. This is a real disappointment because it makes finishing the game almost impossible without cheats of some sort.
Not that the songs are great anyway as they have a very acquired taste. Indeed the game does try to give you some different types of music to do later on, including songs from other Sega games like Space Channel 5, but they're undeniably cheesy on the whole. Some of the songs are also just covers rather than the real tracks themselves. With that said, the better songs are on the easier difficulties though
And speaking of tracks, the game perhaps could've done with more seeing as Guitar Hero 3 has over 70, a much larger number than that of Samba De Amigo. This means the game is a little short, even with the number of modes on offer.
However, there is online play in the form of Wi-Fi. There is no random play option, again unlike Guitar Hero 3 and it is all friend code based because of this. Although Samba De Amigo does make an efficient use of Wii's features. Visually, it is lovely on the Wii's hardware thanks to its bold colours and cartoon style. It is a very cutesy looking game and Samba's smile alone is adorable. The game also uses Miis throughout which is nice to see.
Yet at parties, Samba De Amigo is likely to hit, especially with the younger audiences. And yes, it sounds a lot worse than Guitar Hero or Rock Band but it is also a far, far cheaper alternative. It is a diverting title, especially compared to some of the party and music games on store and because of this, even with the difficulty and odd controls, worth buying at a cheaper price.